Saints Taking Baby Steps

Welcome in to Juan's World where it's clear. Sometimes, baby steps are needed before one can take one giant leap forward. The hardest part is having to wait for that leap.

For the past two seasons, it seems like all the Saints have been doing is taking baby steps. And, this was, hopefully, gonna be the season when they took that one Giant leap forward.

It remains to be seen but I'm seeing signs that it could happen this season. Yes, I saw plenty of positives from the season opening loss to Oakland.

One, the patched up offensive line played like a unit that's been together for year. Most importantly, they kept Drew Brees upright for pretty much the entire game. The one sack and fumble he had was on him. Even he said so afterwards.

This unit, facing criticism all preseason long, answered the bell. And I expect it to only get better. And that means good things for Brees, who threw for over 400-yards and 4 touchdowns against the Raiders.

The Saints also ran the ball effectively. Eight-eight yards on 22-carries which translates into a four-yards-per-rush average. Sean Payton will take that any day.

The only concern I have now is with the defense, which I was a believer coming out of camp that this unit would be better. But, they couldn't hold a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. Nor did they get any sacks or force any turnovers. And, Delvin Breaux is now out with an injury. And....And...And. Talking about this units deficiencies gets old. But, I'm still a believer that things are gonna get better on this side of the ball.

And I know that this team doesn't have a very good history of coming back strong after losing their season opener. But, there's a first time for everything and this team showed some signs that they can get their early season problems corrected.

To quote pretty much 'every' football player that played for a team that lost their season opener....There's still a lot of football left to play.

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis hopes to have more success in the 2018 draft class /FILE (FOX 8 Photo)

1st Round TE Dallas Goedert, South Dakota St. I went back and forth with two other linebackers and a cornerback in this slot. But in the end, I circled back around to my original selection of Goedert. Tight end is one of the few positions on the Saints roster where a rookie can step and be a major contributor. When watching his tape, I instantly thought Jimmy Graham with his athleticism. His route running may even be more refined than Graham’s was at that stage of his career. ...

1st Round TE Dallas Goedert, South Dakota St. I went back and forth with two other linebackers and a cornerback in this slot. But in the end, I circled back around to my original selection of Goedert. Tight end is one of the few positions on the Saints roster where a rookie can step and be a major contributor. When watching his tape, I instantly thought Jimmy Graham with his athleticism. His route running may even be more refined than Graham’s was at that stage of his career. ...